Correction: The headline previously stated that this was women's soccer's first-ever NCAA tournament. Elon women's soccer went to the NCAA tournament in 1999, when Elon was in the Big South Conference. Elon News Network regrets this error.
Elon University’s women’s soccer team and 2021 CAA champion is set to face the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Panthers in the first round of the NCAA Women’s Soccer tournament.
The game is set to take place April 28 at 3 p.m. at the WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina. This will be the first time that the Phoenix will face the Panthers in team history.
After their win against the University of North Carolina-Wilmington Seahawks on April 17, the team made history by being crowned the Colonial Athletics Association Conference Champions. This pushed the Phoenix to a spot in the opening round of the tournament.
Days after their historic win, the women on the soccer team are ready to continue making program history.
“I think we're all just really ecstatic right now,” said Claire Broderdorp, sophomore forward/midfielder. “We still have a sort of the adrenaline rush. I think it's going to be a while till we're like calm down.”
Currently, the Phoenix are ranked as the No. 71 seed and the Milwaukee Panthers are ranked No. 25.
Broderdorp said the team is not worried about the pressure put on them as the first women’s soccer team in Elon’s history to win the CAA championship.
“I think it's good to have a little bit of that pressure on us, but I know just as a team are just gonna kill it out there,” Broderdorp said.
After the face off, the winner is set to play No.1 seed Florida State on May 1 at 3 p.m.